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FORMOBILE: An end-to-end forensic investigation chain for mobile devices

i-LEAD Digital Forensics Practitioners Workshop

Formobile project was presented during the 9th Practitioner Meeting about Digital Forensics which took place on 26-27 June in Lisbon within the i-LEAD Project. The workshop was organised and facilitated by the Policia Judiciaria and the i-LEAD project.

Published on 31 July 2019

What is i-LEAD?

i-LEAD is the short name for Innovation - Law Enforcement Agencies Dialogue. Like FORMOBILE, i-LEAD is a project funded through the Horizon 2020 programme. The project sits under 'Secure societies - protecting freedom and security of Europe and its citizens'.

The Dutch National Police coordinates the project, which includes active participation from 12 Law Enforcement Agencies and partners, and 7 European research institutions, from across the region.

i-LEAD intends to form a Pan-European network of Law Enforcement Practitioners, to fulfil several objectives, which include:

Establish common requirements to address the capability and operational gaps
Monitor research and innovation within the policing arena
Identify priorities for policy recommendations, standards and procurement
Create conditions in which industry, academia and policing can better interact and discuss future ‘fit for purpose’ research
Build a platform to improve the exchange of knowledge
Disseminate results and interact with other relevant networks

Considering the above, i-LEAD addresses many of the issues relevant to FORMOBILE, which is a strong benefit of having participants involved in both projects, such as:

Portuguese, Spanish and Polish Police (Consortium Partners)
Home Office (Consortium Partners)
Polish Platform for Homeland Security (Consortium Partners)
Patrick Padding (Advisory Board)

What was the focus of the Workshop?

The workshop was devoted to digital forensics, the parent category of mobile device forensics, which FORMOBILE is dedicated to.

The goals of the workshop were similar to those shared in FORMOBILE. The project team were looking to hear directly from experts in the digital forensics field, gaining a better understanding of the main challenges and obstacles faced.

The discussion points included:

The current situation with regards to technology, processes and methodologies
The capability gaps
End-user requirements and priorities
Potential solutions to the priorities
Possible areas for standardisation and procurement

What was the role of FORMOBILE?

A representative of ZITiS, a partner in the FORMOBILE consortium, was one of the experts invited to a presentation at the workshop.
ZITiS provided an overview of the points above in connection to mobile forensics.

What were the benefits?

As referenced above, there were other members of the FORMOBILE consortium and Advisory Board who attended the event.

As well as receiving insights into the trends, challenges and opportunities communicated by the experts, it was a fantastic chance for the FORMOBILE attendees to network and engage directly with LEAs - one of the key target groups of the FORMOBILE project.

The opportunity to actively discuss and debate the topics related to mobile device forensics is a key driver for the overall success of the FORMOBILE initiative. Couple this with the ability to expand the network and strengthen connections with important members of the digital forensics ecosystem and the rationale for attending such events is clear.

FORMOBILE would like to thank the i-LEAD project team for organising and facilitating the workshop, the event was very practical and useful.